Comptroller and Auditor General of India and former IAS officer of Rajastahn Cadre Rajiv Mehrishi set up an example for the bureaucracy when on Thursday he emptied a toilet pit from a twin pit toilet in rural Maharashtra. In this tasks he was joined by secretary in the ministry of drinking water and sanitation Parameswaran Iyer.
The pit-cleaning exercise was conducted at Pandharewadi gram panchayat in Daund block of the Pune district. The exercise was basically a step towards dispelling myths, biases and stigmas and setting a precedent that officers who advocate for sanitation and hygiene should practice the same. Several state principal secretaries (sanitation), senior officers of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), and senior officers of Maharashtra government joined in this exercise.
At the #ODF Sustainability workshop in #Maharashtra, Additional Chief Secretaries of various states, senior officers of the #SBM & state government officials emptied the pits from twin pit toilets to de-stigmatize ...

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Shri ‎Rajiv Mehrishi, and Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Shri Parameswaran Iyer emptied a toilet pit from a twin pit toilet in rural Maharashtra early this morning.

The founder of Sulabh International, Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, has been honoured with the Nikkei Asia Prize in Japan for his contribution to Asia's development, an official statement said today.
Pathak is among the three who have been conferred with the award.
According to an announcement made by the Nikkei Asia Prize Secretariat this morning in Tokyo, he has been described as "an Indian social reformer tackling two of his country's biggest challenges -- poor hygiene and discrimination".
Nikkei Inc., one of the largest media corporations in Japan, has been presenting the awards since 1996 to honour people in Asia who have made significant contributions in one of the three areas: Economic and Business Innovation, Science, Technology and Environment and Culture and Community.
The prizes will be awarded on June 13 in Tokyo in Japan.
Dr Pathak founded the Sulabh International in 1970. It is an NGO that works to promote human rights, environmental sanitation among other social services.
The ...

State-run Power Finance Corporation today announced foray into funding waste-to-energy (WTE) projects by lending Rs 290 crore to the Bawana project in Delhi.
The country's largest WTE project of 24 MW is being operated by Ramky Group, a PFC statement said.
The company said that with this it has forayed into the WTE segment.
This plant was commissioned in 2017 and is the third WTE plant of Delhi. It is part of a 2000 TPD (tonne per day) Integrated Municipal Solid Waste Management System which includes door to door collection, segregation and transportation of municipal waste from North Delhi, its subsequent processing and disposal.
This plant alone handles about 20 per cent Delhi's Municipal Solid Waste. After the waste reaches the processing plant, compost is prepared from the organic portion and after processing, the remaining waste is combusted in the WTE boiler to produce electricity, which is sold through Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to Delhi DISCOMs.
The plant has a unique ...

The Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal and Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and Human Resource Development Dr Satya Pal Singh addressed a joint press conference today, briefing the media on Swachhta Pakhwada 2018 activities organised by the Ministry from 16th March to 31st March 2018.

Staff ReporterSHILLONG, March 16: Expressing the state government’s commitment to regulating mining activities in Meghalaya, Governor Ganga Prasad said that this will be done through a scientific approach which will protect the ecology, the environment and the interests of the people of the state.Delivering his address on the first day of the budget session here on Friday, the Governor said, “My government is serious on regulation of mining in the state by introducing scientific approach to protect ecology, environment and the interest of the people in accordance with the central mines and mining regulations, taking into account the special features of the state in respect of the land tenure system and local traditional practice of the people.”

Secondary agriculture is an important and independent activity and a division needs to be created in all the three departments of the agriculture ministry to promote it, says the Doubling Farmers' Income (DFI) Committee.

Secondary agriculture is an important and independent activity and a division needs to be created in all the three departments of the agriculture ministry to promote it, says the Doubling Farmers' Income (DFI) Committee, headed by Ashok Dalwai, Additional Secretary.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the country was moving from women development to women-led development and emphasised that the dream of New India was where women were empowered, strong and an equal partner in the nation's overall development.

In a major thrust towards protecting and preserving the environment and to curb the menace of growing health hazards due to pollution, the Mizoram Government has begun construction work for the first Solid Waste Resource Management Centre at Tuirial in the state.The Solid Waste Resource Management centre in Tuirial is proposed to provide the basic infrastructure of proper road access, fence, office, stores, workers rooms, toilet facilities for staffs etc.To protect the rich green cover in the Northeastern state of Mizoram from growing toxic air pollution, the state government has rolled out the construction of resource management centre, which would help in keeping aside all the unsustainable solid waste management practices, including open building and landfill fires, that have over the years caused damage to the green environment apart from affecting public health.India's northeastern region is said to be blessed with abundant natural resources and rich green cover but the growing ..